Populazzi

Chapter Twenty-Four



It was fun to fantasize, but I didn't really think there was anything going on between Eddie and me. Sure, he'd kissed me, but it hadn't been a real kiss. We hadn't made out like Claudia and Marsh.

Not that I was against Eddie as my next Ladder target. I liked him. I just had absolutely no idea how to go after him. We didn't have classes together or hang with the same people. Other than in Claudia's and my double-date fantasies, our cou-pledom seemed impossible.

And of course there was the fact that my reputation as a soul-sucking succubus now preceded me wherever I went.

"Cara!"

I was on my way to my locker Monday morning when I heard Archer's voice. He was jogging to catch up to me. Far behind him, I saw Sue, Tom, and Doug. They looked annoyed. I didn't care. I was happy to see him.

"Hey!"

"Hey. How are things with your parents?" Between the weird finals schedule and my grounding, Archer and I hadn't seen each other since the last time we'd spoken.

"You pretty much saved my life. I mean, they're still crazy, but I'm dealing with it a lot bett—"

"Cara! I was looking for you."

It was Eddie Riegert, sporting what seemed to be his go-to outfit of choice, jeans and a T-shirt. Today's said WHAT THE SMURF?! just under one of the little blue creatures.

"You were?" I asked. I wondered if I had left something behind at his party, like a lip gloss that melted on his dryer and made a horrible mess that got him in trouble. I already felt guilty.

"Yeah. Come on."

He took my hand and led me down the hall.

"Wait," I said. "I was talking to—"

But even as I turned back toward Archer, I saw Sue grabbing his hand and pulling him in the other direction. Apparently neither one of us was in control of our social agenda. I gave him a helpless smile, then turned to see where Eddie was taking me. Why he was taking me, I didn't want to imagine—I was sure I'd get it wrong.

And yet ... he was holding my hand.

And he'd kissed me at his party.

But still...

I almost stopped in my tracks as I realized where Eddie and I were headed. It was a room at the end of the building called "The Heap."

It was an apt description. When the school had been built in the 1950s, the room had been a vision of wholesome teenage bliss. Photos on the walls showed it filled with straight- backed chairs and game tables outfitted for cards, backgammon, chess, checkers, dominoes, and even tiddlywinks.

Decades later, the gaming accessories were long gone, and somewhere along the way the school had given in to students' desires to immortalize themselves. The administrators had turned the other way as class after class added their own graffiti to the tables and chairs. It was actually a cool tradition. At Homecoming, the place swarmed with alumni looking for the marks they'd left ages ago.

In the fall The Heap had entertained a revolving door of different Cubby Crews, DangerZones, and even Happy Hopeless. In the winter the junior class Populazzi retreated inside from their oak tree and claimed The Heap as their own. Once they did, no one from another Tower tier dared venture inside. It was like the change in weather triggered a force field on the doorway and anyone who didn't belong would be vaporized on entry.

But now I was going in on the arm of a Populazzi. Did that mean I belonged? Could it really be that easy?

I was excited—but terrified. Eddie's party had been one thing; I'd gone in with Claudia, and there'd been enough people around that I could disappear when I'd needed to. The Heap was filled with only the Populazzi. I'd be under a microscope. If I messed up and embarrassed myself, the damage would be huge and permanent.

I was also nervous about Trista. I had gotten on her radar as a DangerZone. Would she accept me as a potential Populazzi? Eddie had pretty much called me on not being myself with Nate, but it didn't seem to bother him. Would it bother Trista? Would she think I was a total fake? If she did, would Eddie not be interested anymore? Did she have that kind of power?

I held my breath a little as I followed Eddie into The Heap.

"Cara!" Trista cried. She was on the floor leaning back against Brett Seward's legs, but she jumped up to hug me.

Hug me.

She took my hand and led me to a chair, pulling me away from Eddie. He looked amused.

"I have been dying to talk to you," Trista said. "How does it feel to have the most dramatic social life in the whole school?"

Was she being sarcastic? No, I didn't think she was. She seemed genuine. And given the way Nate had been acting and whatever was suddenly going on with Eddie, it wasn't like she was exaggerating.

"Yeah, tell us. How does it feel to have saved Eddie from the priesthood?"

That came from Gemma Palano. She was sitting across the room and gave me a pointed stare that made my brain whimper.

Gemma was the most intimidating person at Chrysella, far more intimidating than even Trista. She looked like an exotic supermodel and could easily have been Supreme Populazzi, except high school wasn't her thing. She played on the pro tennis circuit and spent most of her time traveling the world for tournaments. Rumor had it she'd never gone out with anyone at school, but had tons of older men outside of Chrysella, and had dated her twenty-year-old trainer when she was only twelve.

Gemma never smiled. Unlike, oh, me—who automatically grinned like an idiot to all the people I met in the hopes that they'd like me. Gemma didn't care about that. She demanded other people prove they were worthy of her. I respected that ... but it also made me feel very small and inferior.

"I'm the one who saved him, Gems," Trista said. "It was my idea to have Eddie invite Cara and Nate to the party."

"It was?" I asked.

"Mm-hm. I had no idea you'd be in the middle of the biggest breakup ever. Or that I'd be hooking you up with Eddie."

"Did you know you'd be hooking Marsh up?" asked Ree-Ree Wenderoth. She straddled a backwards chair and glared out from behind her long dirty-blond locks.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. She was talking about Claudia. I looked to Marsh to see what he'd say, but he was only shaking his head in what seemed like disbelief.

"Oh, Ree-Ree, Marsh did that all by himself."

That was Kristie Place. She was sitting perfectly upright in her chair. Her makeup was impeccable, and there wasn't a single stray wisp on her sleek blond cap of hair. She held hands with a guy I recognized as a Jock, not a Populazzi. I was pretty sure his name was Eric.

"You think?" Ree-Ree challenged Kristie. "Someone had to bring the girl to the party."

Ree-Ree glared at me as she said it, and I reflexively shied back. The word on Ree-Ree was that she was real-deal crazy. I'd even heard a rumor that she'd been suspended a whole month freshman year for getting into a fight on a school bus and literally almost scratching another girl's eyes out. I had no desire to be on her bad side.

"Whatever, Rees," Eddie said. "It's not Cara's fault."

"It's not my fault either!" cried Marsh. "This girl threw herself at me! After you broke up with me and walked out of the party. So now, what, you're a little jealous?"

"I don't get jealous," she said. "I get even and I get gone."

"You wouldn't," Marsh said.

"Why not?"

"Come here."

Ree-Ree made her eyes slits, but she obeyed. When she was still a foot away, Marsh pulled her to him and kissed her. She struggled so fiercely against him that I looked at Trista, alarmed. Trista rolled her eyes. Sure enough, within seconds Ree-Ree stopped struggling, threw her arms around Marsh's neck, and attacked his throat with her tongue.

"Promise she wasn't as pretty as me," Ree-Ree said when she came up for air.

"She was hideous," Marsh said. "Deathly pale skin, big spooky eyes ... it was like making out with a corpse."

"Ew!" Ree-Ree squealed. Then she turned to me. "Is she really that awful?"

The whole room turned to face me. I knew I needed to lacerate them with the truth: that Claudia was not at all awful; that she was in fact much prettier than anyone in this room, especially since she wasn't ugly enough to use someone and then drag her through the dirt just to make someone else jealous.

"Come on, tell me about her," Ree-Ree prodded. "She's your friend, right? So you're friends with someone who steals other girls' men?"

This was about me now? I glanced at Eddie, but he looked as interested as all the others. I had to fix this on my own.

"She doesn't steal girls' men. She didn't know Marsh was taken."

"Right, because guys who look like Marsh are always single," Ree-Ree said. Marsh liked that. He stood up a little taller.

Everyone was still looking at me. I felt like I was being tested. I needed to stick up for Claudia, but I couldn't really come down on Marsh or Ree-Ree. I decided to be honest.

"Claudia doesn't have a lot of experience with guys. She thought if Marsh wanted to kiss her, it had to be something special."

"Because she's, like, nine years old?" Ree-Ree asked.

I blushed, embarrassed as much for myself as for Claudia.

"Because Marsh was her first kiss."

The room erupted into a riot of "Whoa," "No way," and "Are you serious?"

"Dude, it's like you took her mouth cherry," Brett said.

"'Mouth cherry'?" Trista repeated. "Oh my God, what are you?"

"See, now I'm just sad," Gemma said.

"I know ... I feel so sorry for her," Kristie agreed.

"Hello! That's even worse!" Ree-Ree said. "Miss Purity probably thought she was getting forever with my man! Right?"

Her eyes pinned me to the wall. "Maybe a little, but—"

The bell rang before I could say anything else. Marsh pulled Ree-Ree back into his arms.

"Let it go, baby. We're back together now, right?"

"Better believe it," she said, and gave him another long kiss.

"Aw, see, I love happy endings," Eddie said. Everyone laughed as we poured into the hall to walk to class. Gemma walked solo, but the rest of us broke into couples: Kristie and Eric, Brett and Trista, Marsh and Ree-Ree ... and Eddie and I. We walked as a pack, everyone talking and laughing, but I only vaguely heard what they said. I kept playing back the conversation in The Heap. I hadn't done anything except tell the truth, but I still felt like I'd betrayed my best friend.

It bothered me a lot, but I soon became distracted by what was going on around me.

People were staring.

Everyone, even the ones who tried not to stare, the ones who wanted to seem like the Popularity Tower didn't matter to them, they still snuck glances our way.

I had arrived. I had no idea how it had happened, but it seemed like it was true. I pushed the conversation in The Heap out of my head. No, Claudia wouldn't want the Populazzi to know how behind she was, but it's not like these were people she'd ever need to see again. And it wasn't as if she was losing anything with Marsh. He clearly didn't care about her, and she deserved a lot better. I'd tell her that. She wouldn't like it, but she'd agree she was better off without him.

Besides, this was all her doing. This was what she'd wanted from day one: for me to be a member of the Populazzi.

Now I was on my way.